The present invention relates to a composition and method for correcting a diet-induced inadequacy of phytonutrients.
In the past decade, it has been observed that a significant portion of the human population has adopted undesirable and unhealthy eating habits. For example, much of the population of the United States fails to intake the quantity and variety of food adequate to meet U.S. Recommended Daily Dietary Allowances. Only 22% of subjects in a National Cancer Institute Study consume the recommended daily number of dietary servings of fruits and vegetables, even though information regarding the recommended servings is well published by many health organizations.
Most health guidelines recommend that each person consume at least five to nine servings of fruit and vegetables per day. Dietary Guidelines for Californians, The California Daily Food Guide, California Department of Health Services (1990). Some researchers suggest that a target of 400 grams of fruits and vegetables is a sensible goal for the optimal quantity to be consumed daily. In terms of variety, researchers recommend that persons should eat at least three different colors of fruits and vegetables per day.
Coupled to the observation of inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables is a verified conclusion that the diet of a typical U.S. citizen, a “western diet,” is deficient in phytonutrients. Phytonutrients generally refer to plant-derived compounds which, when taken daily, provide improved cardiovascular and bone health, improved antioxidant profile, decreased free radical damage and overall enhancement of the body's immunological system. The difference between the recommended amount of phytonutrients and the amount ingested in a typical western diet is referred to as a gap. The following table represents a gap analysis for two phytonutrients, lutein and lycopene. Lutein is a phytonutrient found in green leafy vegetables, such as spinach. Lycopene is a phytonutrient present in tomatoes.
PhytonutrientRecommendedTypical U.S. DietGapLutein19.5–25.6 mg.1.8 mg.20.75 mg.Lycopene 4.2–10 mg.2.2 mg.2–7.8 mg.
This gap, which is even more pronounced for other phytonutrients, has been linked to significant health implications. The ingestion of phytonutrient-rich fruits and vegetables has been shown to decrease the occurrence of several chronic degenerative diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic macular degeneration, and delay on the onset and/or slowing of the progression of coronary heart disease. For example, in cell culture studies, lycopene's ability to inhibit breast cancer tumors was compared to that of alpha and beta-carotene. The cell cultures that were enhanced with lycopene showed that it inhibited the growth of breast cancer cells and that the alpha and beta-carotene were far less effective than lycopene in inhibiting the cell growth. Levy, J. et al, Lycopene is a More Potent Inhibitor of Human Cancer Cell Proliferation Than Either A-Carotene or Beta-Carotene, Nutrition Cancer, 24:257–266 (1995).
Another study found that an increased intake of fresh tomatoes (a major source of lycopene) was associated with a pattern of protection for all sites of digestive tract cancer. Stall, W. et al., Lycopene: A Biologically Important Carotenoid for Humans? Arc. Biochem. Biophys., 336:1–9 (1996). In a study of 41,837 post-menopausal women, researchers investigated the association of fruit and vegetable consumption with lung cancer risk. The risk of lung cancer was discovered to be approximately halved when the consumption of fruits and vegetables increased from twenty-four or less servings to an excess of forty-eight servings per week. Similarly, the risk of lung cancer was approximately halved when the consumption of green leafy vegetables including spinach sources increased from one or fewer servings to six or more servings per week. Steinmetz, K., et al, Vegetables, Fruit and Lung Cancer in the Iowa Women's Health Study, Cancer Research, 53:536–543 (1993).
The typical western diet is significantly deficient in beneficial phytonutrients found in fruits and vegetables due to inadequate consumption and imbalanced dietary intake. Therefore, an opportunity exists to correct dietary deficiencies in these phytonutrients.